Returning Player Where to Start

Hello, I'm returning to GW2 after a long hiatus. I played back when it launched for around 6 months, then tapered off into other things, returning usually once a year for the Mad King celebrations.
Looking for advice on where to get started diving back into the game content. I'm excited and a little daunted by the amount of content I have available.I have a level 80 Guardian, and a smattering of other characters at varying levels. I never finished my main quest, the Sea of Sorrows was appropriately named at least for me.
I have purchased but not played any content for Heart of Thorns or Path of Fire.I have watched some videos on the changes since I left, but there is so much content I'm not sure where to start. I have put some time into revamping my characters builds, but I know I'm not taking advantage of everything since I don't have masteries unlocked.
I have all the Living World content available as well but haven't touched it. I have only played a little PVP/WvW content, I'm more interested in the story & exploration.

Any advice on the best content path would be appreciated. I've been arguing with myself over whether to work on unlocking gliding/mounts and masteries first or to start with the Living World content.
Thank you!

@Aseneth.4638 said:Any advice on the best content path would be appreciated. I've been arguing with myself over whether to work on unlocking gliding/mounts and masteries first or to start with the Living World content.

Thank you!

When you check the Living World episodes in your story journal, they are chronologically ordered and it gives you an idea of which chapter comes after the one you pick. Let's say you start from the vanilla story. After that, you can see Living World chapters that lead right before the HoT story and the same thing goes for the PoF story.

If you have level 80 characters, then it's definitely a good idea to start doing HoT and PoF content especially if you finished the vanilla content. Keep in mind, most of the HoT zones don't have hearts or quests so you're going to farm events to get experience and spend mastery points on certain masteries like gliding and bouncing mushrooms.

Use experience boosters to make the process faster and my advice for mastery choices at the start would be to unlock Glider Basics and Updraft Use. This allows you to use your glider as well as using updrafts to increase your altitude and reset the glider's endurance. In Itzel Lore, bouncing mushrooms is the only mastery you'll ever need at the start.

Also, if you're planning on making an ascended gear with condition stats like Viper, then go to Auric Basin, gain experience and spend masteries on the first two masteries: Exalted Masteries and Exalted Acceptance. This is important because without them, you can't buy Viper inscriptions from vendors. Another advice I can give about crafting condition gear is make one with Rabid stats first and then use the Viper inscriptions to swap stats. Rabid stats are the cheapest condition stats and you'll save yourself plenty of gold if you craft Rabid rather than Viper.

As for the PoF mounts, my advice would be for you to get the masteries throughout the Crystal Desert without the need of a specific mount. Certain masteries can only be accessed using specific mounts, so just get the ones you can that don't need a mount or at least the basic raptor. The PoF zones do have hearts or quests for you to gain experience so no need to worry about farming events just so you can enough experience for masteries.

Thank you, Hoodie. This is very detailed and helpful.

I just got back a couple months ago myself and I'd recommend you get your Raptor and Bunny mount first and get their masteries to level 3 each. It'll make getting some masteries in heart of thorns easier. I'd also recommend you complete Living story 3 to get access to Bitterfrost Frontier for winterberry farming to get ascended trinkets that you can select stats. You'll die alot more in HOT than in POF. Other then that just enjoy the game. I used to main warrior but enjoy Firebrand much more now and prefer it over dragonhunter. Definitely recommend Firebrand. You'll need to build for some survivablity when running around solo in the newer maps. I recommend at least one stun breaker and condi cleanse. GL.

1. Get a daily routine going in order to make gold. A basic daily routine that doesn't require skill, gear, or gold is: Kill Tequatl (2g+ per day, spawns exactly at daily reset), kill leyline anomaly (about 2g per day, spawns at 20 minutes past reset), then get the actual "daily" done (the daily thing that pops up on the right-hand side of your screen) through whatever method you prefer.

2. Make sure your gear is at least exotic quality. For power, buy berserker armor/weapons from the TP. For condition, buy rabid armor/weapons from the TP. Buy a cheap set of runes + sigils. Good options for cheap runes include traveler (https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Superior_Rune_of_the_Traveler) or divinity (https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Superior_Rune_of_Divinity). Good options for cheap sigils include accuracy (https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Superior_Sigil_of_Accuracy) and then rage for power (https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Superior_Sigil_of_Rage) or earth for condi (https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Superior_Sigil_of_Earth).

3. Buy a full set of 18 slot bags.

4. Activate the first mission of Path of Fire in your story selection screen. Quickly complete the mission to get your raptor mount, then forget about path of fire for now.

5. Personal preference for me, but work your way through the stories in order, starting with the base GW2 story then into HoT then PoF. The game is much more engaging when you know the characters and plotlines, and aren't just randomly walking around landscapes. If you can afford it, buy the LW episodes. You can also watch their stories on Youtube, I'm sure.

6. Once you have about 50g, level one armor crafting profession to max, and begin making your ascended armor. This armor will let you participate in "fractal" dungeons.

7. Find a guild that does "guild missions." These missions give you a special currency that lets you cheaply and easily buy ascended trinkets.

8. Choose the "laurel" option for the final login reward chest, and use your laurels to buy an ascended amulet.

9. Do the "tier 1" fractal dailies, up to your capabilities. You need something called agony resistance to continue advancing, but many of the t1 dailies can be done without agony resistance. This will give you a currency to buy ascended rings in just a few days time.

At this point, continue advancing through the stories, while getting your dailies done, gradually crafting your ascended armor, and advancing your progress in fractal dungeons. You can then branch out into pvp, wvw, raids, and gold farming.